


Turtle Shell

by MayLovelies



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Dysfunctional Family, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Other, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 22:14:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8818144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayLovelies/pseuds/MayLovelies
Summary: Living with the Fëanorians doesn’t erase the past, as the pain never truly leaves the twins. The ghosts of their tragedy still haunt them, but the brothers try to make things better, despite the damage that will never fully leave their family.OrBeing abandoned was not the worst thing that happened to the twins, as they still deal with pain long after.





	

The first few months were the hardest, as the twins still didn’t trust Maglor or Maedhros.

Maedhros informed Maglor that he needed to give the two of them some time. After the tragedy they’d witnessed, they were still greatly traumatized. That pain wouldn’t go away any time soon, and as long as they relived that very moment there would be no quick reconcile with the Fëanorians.

However, Maedhros was wrong—for the most part.

The second month rolled around and out came Elros, curiously observing the fortress. It was Maedhros who saw him first, early in the morning before the others woke and Elros’ eyes were immediately drawn to his hand (or his missing hand). Next, he was found in Maglor’s study, plucking away at the harp strings and instantly waking the Eldar.

Nonetheless, Elros grew close to the Fëanorians.

Yet, as Maglor noticed, Elrond stayed back. Sometimes he’d trail behind his brother, his shoulders hunched and his hands twiddling nervously. He seemed to kind of vanish in the background, until addressed, and even then, he’d recoil like a turtle in his shell.

Maglor observed this, more so than Maedhros did (who passed it off as Elrond being shy). There was something different about Elrond. He wasn’t shy, but afraid…afraid of everything, even Elros sometimes. Always withdrawn and hunched, Maglor began to wonder if there was something wrong with him. Because in comparison to his joyous and rather bold brother, he was drained of all life.

And one day, Maglor caught a glimpse of Elrond while he changed.

His pale back was littered with bruises, and scratch marks alike. Some old, some fairly new and some obviously responsible for his stunted stature.

Unwise on Maglor’s part, he burst into the room, demanding an explanation as to who hurt Elrond. But the boy, paralyzed didn’t say a word, despite Maglor’s persisting demands.

This resulted in him crying after some time, not making out logical words or speech. So Maglor simply knelt down, and opened his arms to Elrond, waiting until the nervous boy recoiled once again but walked towards him and fell into his embrace.

Though Maglor wouldn’t ask him about the bruises, there was still Elros.

OoOoOoOoOo

The feast had finished rather quickly that night, and after most the hall and dishes were cleaned, Elros and Maglor stayed behind to finish what was left.  Elrond had come to dinner, but he was quick to leave with Maedhros. In fact, more than often he stayed by Maedhros, glued closely to his side.

Yet, with just the two of them together, Maglor took this as a chance to interrogate Elros. He didn’t want to flat out accuse him, but he feared that Elros was the reason for the Elrond’s current state. So after the two finished their chores, Maglor called the young elf to sit outside on the balcony with him, and then he finally spoke.

“Elros, do you and your brother rough house sometimes? I know human children do it…so I was wondering. I see that Elrond is a little bruised. If that is the case, may I ask you not to be so rough with him?”

“It isn’t me.” Elros’ response was so quick and littered with desperation, that Maglor rose and eyebrow. He turned to look at the child, and realized how pale he’d gotten.

“Then who is it, Elros? I have tried to ask Elrond and he will not tell me.” Maglor grew a bit worried now, fearing that someone inside the fortress was inflicting those wounds upon Elrond. And when he questioned Elros again, the elfling stared at him wide eyed, mouth agape. He was unsure of what to say, or how to respond—almost paralyzed like his brother earlier.

So Maglor knelt and placed a hand on Elros’ shoulder, looking him in his eye.

He again spoke quietly, “Who is hurting your brother? Is it someone inside the fortress?”.

“If I say…you will…you’ll grow upset. You won’t be happy.”

The Eldar’s heart skipped several beats as he pondered on just what Elros was implying. The only reason Elros wouldn’t want Maglor to know, was because the abuser was someone close to him and the closest person to him he could think of in the fortress was his own brother, Maedhros.

He knew Maedhros hadn’t completely warmed up to the idea of the twins. And even when Elrond followed him, he grunted and frowned at his presence. It sickened Maglor to even ponder on the fact that Maedhros was hurting the poor boy, and because of that, a sick attachment had probably formed

So he simply closed his eyes, nodded and stood. “I will speak to Maedhros about it. Your brother will be okay—”

“No!” Elros shouted, as if the mere mention of blaming Maehdros unsettled him to far degree. “It isn’t Maedhros!”

“You do not have to cover for him. You mustn’t fear—”

“Our mother—Elwing, did it to Elrond! She hit him! Not Maedhros, I swear!”

Maglor had trouble breathing before he finally caught himself. Yet still, he couldn’t exactly comprehend what Elros just told him. For as the words fell clear from his mouth, it was near impossible to fathom this.

“I don’t…I don’t understand. You must be making this up.” He gazed down at the young elfling, trying to make some sense out of this situation. But Elros quickly shook his head.

“Elrond has always been…well…he can’t always speak, or communicate properly. Ever since he’s been little, he’s been slower…not like me. But it isn’t bad, he’s just…not like other elves. He’s really quiet, and he hunches himself like a turtle sometimes. I don’t know why, but it isn’t bad or anything. I don’t mind but…Elwing…mother hated it.” Elros took a deep breath and looked Maglor in the eye. “Since Elrond wouldn’t ever act the way she wanted, she’d get really mad. She would yell at him at first, and that would scare him but later on, she started hitting him. At first, father protected him, but when he left….Elrond only had me. I wasn’t near strong enough to protect Elrond all the time, but he would run to me after a beating and I would make him feel better.”

There was a brief silence afterward, as Maglor tried to gain himself.

As an elf, he couldn’t accept this. It made him sick to think a mother would hurt her own child yet, it occurred to him that Elwing had in fact abandoned them to their deaths. Maglor began to think that she did not want them, and she manifested that anger by physically lashing out at Elrond. It was terrible to think about, but it happened, and he _had_ to accept it. At least now, they were in a safer situation.

“Elrond is still greatly affected by this.” Maglor stated. “Which is why he is so afraid, and why he only seems to follow you.”

“Now he follows Maedhros everywhere he goes. Maedhros is big, and very tall…and Elrond thinks that if Elwing were ever to return, Maedhros could protect him from her.” Elros responded.  

Maglor sighed. “I need to speak to Elrond about this—”

“You can’t!” Elros tugged on Maglor’s robes. “Elrond will be sad if we discuss it, please…keep it between us! Promise me you will!” And though Maglor would not keep up to that, he simply nodded. After a bit more retellings of the past, Maglor took Elros to bed and wished him good night. Yet, just before he left the room, Elros called out to him, quietly saying “Thank you, for everything.”, before resting his head back upon his pillow.

Maglor’s next destination was to Maedhros’ room, in hopes of finding a way to confront Elrond about this.

Yet, when he opened the elder Fëanorian’s door, he caught a slight glimpse of Elrond pressed up against him, sleeping away. It was possible that Maedhros was unware of his little nightly visitor, but Maglor wouldn’t disturb them.

That night, he supposed he had to plan on his own, because such a revelation couldn’t not simply be ignored.

**Author's Note:**

> Part one of two. Part two may be really sad so just warning you.  
> I hope you enjoyed! If you did PLEASE don’t hesitate to tell me! And of as always, I have a tumblr it's [maylovely](http://maylovely.tumblr.com/)  
> 


End file.
